Seismic stratigraphy and small 3D seismic surveys

The establishment of seismic stratigraphic principles in the 1970s ushered in a new era of seismic interpretation possibilities. Seismic stratigraphy spawned sequence stratigraphy (potentially applicable to seismic, log, and outcrop data), and the associated methods for defining basin evolution, reconstructing depositional histories, and making qualitative predictions of lithology. Seismic interpreters began to focus on recognizing and defining characteristic reflection terminations, seismic facies and otherwise analyzing seismic character to define sequences, systems tracts and potential drilling targets. The development of seismic geomorphology, a branch of seismic stratigraphy that focuses on plan-view images of stratigraphic features derived from 3D seismic volumes, has further enhanced interpreters' abilities to reconstruct depositional environments and predict the lithology of the strata being imaged.